About 45 species: tropical and subtropical Asia; 15 species (ten endemic) in China.

This genus was reviewed for Thailand by Fukuoka (Acta Phytotax. Geobot. 40: 107-118. 1989), for the Indian subcontinent by Deb (Bull. Bot. Surv. India 28(1-4): 114-132. 1986), and for China by H. S. Lo (Guihaia 11: 105-116. 1991). Mycetia is said to belong to Isertieae but also, anomalously, to have raphides. H. S. Lo (in FRPS 71(1): 314. 1999) reported that the inflorescences may sometimes be axillary, but this has not been noted by other authors; this description may be using the term "axillary" for the position elsewhere considered "pseudoaxillary." Lo also reported that the anthers may sometimes be partially exserted, which has not been reported by other authors nor seen on specimens studied by us.